Lakehead University Knowledge Commons,http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca Electronic Theses and Dissertations Retrospective theses 1990 Beat around the bush : the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union and the new political economy of labour in Northern Ontario, 1936-1988 / by Douglas Thur. Thur, Douglas. http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/2424 Downloaded from Lakehead University, KnowledgeCommons National Library Bibliottièaue nationalo 1 ^ 1 of Canada du Canada Canadian Theses Service Service des thèses canadiennes Oitawo, Canada K1A0N4 NOTICE AVIS The quality of this microform is heavily dependent upon the La qualité de celte microforme dépend grandement de la quality of Ifie original thesis submitted for microfilming. qualité de la thèse soumise au microfilmage. Nous avons Every effort has been made to ensure the highest quality of tout fait pour assurer une qualité supérieure de reproduc­ reproduction possible. tion. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. lakehead Un iv er s ity B e a t A ROUND THE b u s h : T h e Lu m b e r a n d S a w m il l W o r k er s Unio n A n d T h e Ne w p o l it ic a l e c o n o m yOf Labour I n No rthern On ta r io 1936-1988 By DOUGLAS THUR © A T h e s is S u b m it t e d T o T h e Fa c u lty Of Gr aduate St u d ie s IN PARTIAL Fu l f il l m e n t Of T h e requirements f o r T h e d e g r e e Of Ma ster Of a rts De p a r t m e n t Of S ociology T h u n d e r Bay, On ta r io FALL, 1990 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. National Library Bibliothèque nationale of Canada du Canada Canadian Theses Service Service des thèses canadiennes Ottawa, Canada K1A0N4 The author has granted an irrevocable non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence irrévocable et exclusive licence allowing the National Library non exclusive permettant à la Bibliothèque of Canada to reproduce, loan, distribute or sell nationale du Canada de reproduire, prêter, copies of his/her thesis by any means and in distribuer ou vendre des copies de sa thèse any form or format, making this tttesis availatjle de quelque manière et sous quelque forme to interested persons. que ce soit pour mettre des exemplaires de cette thèse à la disposition des personnes intéressées. The author retains ownership of the copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur in his/her thesis. Neither the thesis nor qui protège sa thèse. Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantial extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent être otherwise reproduced without his/her per­ imprimés ou autrement reproduits sans son mission. autorisation. ISBN 0-315-69146-4 Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AB.S.TBACX The New Political Economy o f Labour, with its emphasis on the rank and file workers, departs significantly from the first generation of labour historians who were concerned with larger issues, or what McNaught has aptly described as “top down historical writing" (1987,149). No longer dominated by Historians, Sociologists have begun to study the effects on the labour process by analyzing workers responses and struggles to various forms of subordination In different aspects of production that have been introduced into the work place. Phillips feels that these studies have “...contributed to one of the most exciting approaches to both historical and contemporary politi­ cal economy of labour, namely, the study of the labour process” (1989,86). This research contributes to the literature on the labour process by analyzing the forest workers of Northern Ontario and their union, the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union (L.S.W.U.). The L.S.W.U., since its Inception in 1936, fought for and won various concessions for its forest workers. The L.S.W.U. was founded by Communists who had a radical and militant tradition among the forest workers. Many of the strikes that were undertaken often resulted in company equip­ ment being damaged or destroyed. The extent to which these strikes were violent was a result of the severe exploitation that the forest workers were subjected to and the fact that workers resisted the various methods capital employed to reduce labour and increase pro­ duction. The results of these strikes had a profound impact on the la­ bour process in Northern Ontario. II Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this thesis would not have been done without the help of many individuals and organizations. First and foremost my thanks goes out to Dr. J. D. Stafford who originally proposed the topic of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, and, as my thesis advisor guided this project through to completion. Of course my thanks also has to be extended to Dr. R. Nelsen and Dr. E. Epp of the Department of History, who also read and made useful suggestions and comments on various aspects of this thesis. Financial support was made available to me by two generous awards from the Presidential Advisory Com­ mittee on Northern Studies and as well as a Vast and Magnificent Land Historical Research Grant. In addition, many people helped me conduct my research. In particular the staff at both the National and Provin­ cial Archives. More Importantly, to Roger Sheldon, Director of Com­ munications, at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners head office in Washington D.C. who permitted me free access to all the early (and later) files of the L.S.W.Ü. locals In Northern Ontario. As well, the staff at the Lakehead University Archives who allowed me to research documents from the Oscar Styffe Collection that had yet to be processed. I would also like to thank Dr. Ian Radforth of the Uni­ versity of Toronto who acted as my external examiner. Finally, the support, and encouragement I received from Sharon Scanlan and the unselfish contributions of my parents all assisted me in ways too nu­ merous to mention. For any errors that may appear, I bear full re­ sponsibility. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER TWO CAPITALIST EXPLOITATION AND WORKER REVOLT: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSES 1910-1935. CHAPTER THREE - THE EMERGENCE OF THE LUMBER AND SAWMILL WORKERS UNION: 1935-1940. 49 CHAPTER FOUR - LABOUR SHORTAGES AND STATE INTERVENTION DURING THE WAR,1940- 1946. 67 CHAPTER FIVE THE LS.W.U. AND THE SUPPRESSION OF LABOUR,1946-1960. 96 CHAPTER SIX THE NEW ERA OF LABOUR RELATIONS AND THE MILITANCY OF THE RANK AND FILE, 1960-1988. 137 CHAPTER SEVEN - CONCLUSIONS 153 APPENDICES 159 REFERENCES - 195 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1. INTRODUCTION Prior to 1970, the study of the working class was " largely the do­ main of a small number of left wing labour movement journals, a scattering of antiquarians, and the staid fraternity of institutional labour economists..." (Kealey and Heron, 1985, 50). In what Palmer calls the first generation of labour historians, severe limitations re­ sult from their lack of attention to the “ rank and file workers" (Palmer, 1987, 127). Palmer believes that this first generation has recently “ taken to heart J.M.S. Careless's 1989 call for attention to region, ethnicity and class....but they have done so In predictably lim­ ited ways" (1987, 128). As such, it is the issues of interest to leaders that this first generation has been most concerned with. McNaught has aptly described this as "top down historical writing" (1987,149). It was only with the revival of the New Political Economy In 1970, that a new generation of labour historians emerged to challenge the stolidness that characterized the earlier generation. Phillips (1989), argues that the New Political Economy of Labour had its origins In pi­ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. oneers such as Stanley Ryerson and Clare Pentland. Ryerson and Pent- land both brought "...a Marxist approach and thereby class analysis, to the study of Canadian labour" (Phillips,1989,83), that was absent In the first generation of labour historians. Since this time, Phillips argues that a new group of scholars has also contributed to the development of the historical analysis of the Political Economy of Labour.